Opportunity finally met preparation for 22-year-old Atlanta native and Georgia State University student DreTL, the winner of season two of Netflix’s hip-hop competition series “Rhythm + Flow.” On Wednesday night, friends, family, and supporters of the young rapper packed into the Rialto Center for the Arts at Georgia State University to watch the final episodes of the season and celebrate his victory.
Chants of his name rang across the theater as the audience watched the finale performance of his song “Nobody,” which featured a recorded prison call from his mother. “You make the city proud, boy. You make the city look good,” Latto said in the episode. Supporters in the theater already knew that everything the judges were saying when Netflix recorded the show a year ago — “You a star,” “That’s what true stars are made of,” and “You’ll make a hit record” — were already in the works of becoming true.
“I just knew it was my moment because sometimes you can’t change what’s already destined to be. God is gonna have a plan for your life, and you’re just gonna know, what’s for you is for you. And I just knew it was my moment,” DreTL said.
The music competition series features hip-hop artists as they judge and mentor unsigned rappers, who are competing to win a cash prize of $250,000 and studio time at Spotify Studios. The backdrop of this season’s competition was Atlanta, which has become the mecca for hip-hop music. It featured Ludacris, DJ Khaled, and Latto as judges with artists such as Eminem, Busta Rhymes, Remy Ma, and Big Sean as guest judges. Fans of the show watched as contestants battled it out through rap battles, cyphers, and collaborations with R&B artists.
A few of season two’s contestants such as Detroit Diamond, Jaxs, and K’alley were at the watch party to show support for their fellow contestants. D Smoke, a native of Inglewood, California, and the winner of the first season of “Rhythm + Flow,” was a mentor during its second season and was also in attendance at the Rialto Center.
“I just couldn’t be more proud. I know what the experience was like, so to see people navigating it with such poise and see them put their talent at the forefront of the world is just a proud moment,” D Smoke said. “it’s always good for somebody to hear somebody say, ‘I was proud.’ I wanted to tell them to trust yourself. You could be an incredible artist and not win, but being all right means you can live with what you did at the end of the day. And that’s what’s most important. And if you win in the process, cool.”
In two weeks, DreTL will walk across the stage to graduate from Georgia State’s School of Music. With a diploma in hand and his dreams coming to fruition, the young rapper felt nothing but gratitude to those who helped make it happen, including his mother, who watched from the audience Wednesday night.
